Turbine drive for locomotives



Sept. 5, 1939. Q c YOUNG 2,172,234

. TURBINE DRiVE FOR LOCOMOTIVES I Filed Dec. 10, 1936 WITNESSES: 5 W vINVENTOR- v v BY 1 aha/F258 7 TTORNEYS. I

Patented Sept. 1939 uuirea stares career-c 3 Claims.

My invention relates generally to improvements in locomotive drive and,more particularly, to the driving of locomotives by turbines instead ofthe usual reciprocating engine arrangement.

Heretofore, railway locomotives have generally been driven by thereciprocating type of steam engine, connected directly to the drivingwheels. The reciprocating type of engine has a wide range of speeds andat low speeds is capable of a comparatively high power output. The steamturbineis not so flexible'in'speed selection and at low speeds a'highspeed turbinehas a comparatively low' power output. Within itsrestricted operating speeds,.the turbine is considerably more efficientand is'without the excessive vibration which is characteristic of thereciprocating engine. The steady rotation of the turbine willnecessarily be much smoother than the constant reciprocating motion ofthe piston of the reciprocating engine; but the lack of efiiciency atlow speeds has prevented the adaptation of turbines to railwaylocomotives.

The smooth and efficient operation of a turbine is clearly mostdesirable for a railway locomotive unit; and consequently, the mainobject of my invention is to provide a means for driving railwaylocomotives with a turbine installation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment of my invention, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing.

Fig. I is a plan View of the driving system of a locomotive unitequipped with a turbine drive according to my invention, non-essentialand conventional structure being omitted for clarity.

Fig. II is a side view of same, the forward driver being removed to showthe quill drive.

For the purposes of a detailed description of the preferred embodiment,my invention may be resolved into the following main elements: forwardturbines l, reduction gear 2, quill drive 3, drivers l, trailer wheels5, and reversible booster or auxiliary engine 6. Rails 1 areconventionally indicated as are pilot wheels 8.

The turbines i may be of any type and, there fore, are conventionallyindicated for the sake of clarity. There are shown in Figs. I and IIturbines i each having six nozzles ll, each connected to the boiler. Theturbines I, however, may be not only arranged in this manner but in twostages, for the admission of steam to one turbine and then eXhallstingfrom one turbine into the other turbine, giving more complete expansicnof the steam before it exhausts to the exhaust nozzle in the smoke box(not shown). It, therefore, is to be understood as optional whether twoforward turbines With starting nozzles in each, or two stages of steamexpansion with two outlets with starting nozzles in each, are chosen.

Each turbine l is connected by a clutch l2 to a drive shaft [3, though,of course, the connection could be direct without the clutches 12 ifdesired. By means of these clutches l2 either or both of the turbines Imay be used-for forward drive and both disconnected, if the engineer sodesires, for'slow forward or backward movement of the locomotive. Theturbines I are mounted on the locomotive frame (not shown) in a usualmanner.

The reduction gear 2 is protected by a casing It which also covers thequill drive 3. The gear reduction is in the ratio of 25 to 1 and thegear train connects at one end to a gear mounted on the drive shaft I3and at the other end to a gear rim l5, an element of the quill drive 3.The quill drive 3 is also of a usual type and any other form of quilldrive would serve equally well. Other gear ratios obviously can beselected for difierent conditions of speed and power. The most efficientturbine speed should correspond by means of the gear ratio to the usualoperating speed of the locomotive.

The quill 2i) is pivotally attached to the four links l9, two at'eachend of the quill 20, and it has an opening it? through its center for anaxle 2! of the forward drivers 4. One of the two links H9 at each end ofthe quill 20 is pivotally connected to one of the two lugs 22 mounted onthe interior of gear rim IS in diametrically opposite positions. Theother of the two links [9 at each end of the quill 29 is pivotallyconnected to an end of the driving arm 23 which is integrally mounted onthe axle 2! of the forward drivers 4. The quill drive 3 drives theforward drivers 4 and a connecting rod Z l transmits the drive to theother drivers 4.

The trailer truck 25 carrying the trailer wheels 5 is attached to thelocomotive frame (not shown) in the ordinary manner. The reversiblebooster or auxiliary engine 6 for the locomotive unit is also of aWell-known and conventional type and may be located at any desiredposition with respect to the locomotive or its tender. It isreciprocating and operates by steam from the locomotive boiler; and ithas a high power output at low speeds both forward and backward. Thereciprocating piston is conventionally shown in dotted lines at 25.There is sufiicient weight from the locomotive proper on the truck 25 toprovide traction for the trailer 5. There are advantages in having theauxiliary booster engine 6 connected (as here shown) to drive thelocomotive unit through wheels other than those through which theturbines drive the unit: e. g., this independence of the wheels drivenby turbines and auxiliary engine allows independent wheel slippage onthe rails to serve as a factor of safety against damage to themachinery, if by erronous operation of the driving controls the turbineand the auxiliary engine should be simultaneously connected so as tooppose one another.

The operation of my invention is obvious from the above description buta few further comments may be of value. When the engineer wants to movehis locomotive a short distance forward or backward, he uses thereciprocating reversible booster 6, disconnecting the forward turbinesI, if desirable, by the clutches l2, if the clutches l2 are included inthe equipment. The booster 6 may also be used in starting to overcomethe initial inertia of the locomotive unit. The turbines I are designedfor use at speeds around the normal running speed of the locomotive andthus considerable economy and efiiciency is gained for the usualoperating speed. The booster B supplements the efficient high speedturbines l and takes care of the low speeds. If necessary, one of theforward turbines I could be of a high pressure type, and the other of alower pressure type and thus the range of eflicient turbine speeds couldbe extended, by using both turbines for one range of speeds and only oneturbine for a further range of speeds. Thus my invention provides asimple and efficient means for adapting the steam turbine to use indriving a railway locomotive. The efiiciency of the turbine at thenormal operating speeds is obtained and its deficiency at slow speeds isavoided by the auxiliary reversible booster. As a result my inventionprovides a locomotive driving system which is exceptionally smooth inoperation and efiicient in both the high and low speed ranges.

While I have described my invention with reference to a specificembodiment, it will be obvious to one skilled inthe art that numerousmodifications and variations can be made without departing from thespirit of my invention as hereinafter claimed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a locomotive unit, the combination of an elastic fluid turbineconnected to locomotive drive wheels to drive the locomotive at itsnormal running speed when itself operating substantially at fullefficiency; and a reciprocating auxiliary engine connected-to wheels ofthe locomotive unit for driving the unit when the same is not beingdriven by the turbine, in starting and at slow speeds.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 including means interposedbetween the turbine and the locomotive drive wheels for disconnectingthe turbine from said drive wheels during starting and at slow speeds.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein the reciprocatingauxiliary engine is connected to wheels of the locomotive unit that areindependent of those to which the elastic fluid turbine is connected. I

CHARLES D. YOUNG.

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